Dual-Band Acousto-Optical Rotator of the Polarization Plane of Optical Radiation

An acousto-optical cell has been developed to control the angle of rotation of the plane of polarization of optical radiation, changing the direction of the angle of rotation to the opposite depending on the range of acoustic frequencies. The cell prepared from paratellurite crystal made it possible to change the angle of rotation of the polarization plane by approximately 20° in one direction and by approximately 25° in the other when the sound frequency in the first case changed from 20 to 32 MHz and in the second case from 38 to 50 MHz. Time of switching between one polarization position to any another is approximately 1 μs.